Indomethacin-Responsive Hypercalcemia in a Patient with Renal-Cell Adenocarcinoma

IN recent reports, Powell et al. described nonparathyroid humoral hypercalcemia in patients with neoplastic disease,¹ and Tashjian and his colleagues have suggested the possible role of prostaglandins, or other unidentified substances, in cases of neoplastic disease as the cause of hypercalcemia not explained by bone metastases or detectable parathyroid hormone-like peptides.² Hypercalcemia in mice bearing a prostaglandin-producing fibrosarcoma has been treated successfully by Tashjian and his co-workers² with indomethacin, a potent inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis.³ The following case adds support to the suggestion that some forms of hypercalcemia secondary to neoplastic disease are responsive to indomethacin, and may be due . . .